How To Rock A Zoo Day
by misscakerella
Summary: Stevie always hated zoos ever since she got spit on by a camel. Until she heard faint ukulele music and decided to follow the music. From ukuleles to monkeys, this is a story you would want to read. I guess they are ten years old. Possible sequel.


**I was bored and I thought of a new one-shot. Hope you like it. Or not.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own HTR, or anything else. I shall own it Someday. Get the Rags reference? No? Okay then... I always keep forgetting to put the disclaimer.**

(Stevie)

This day stinks. I should probably tell you why I'm here, or why I think today stinks. Well, I guess I shoud tell you my name is Stevie. I'm a kid, and I hate the zoo. Everyone thinks that since I have four brothers, I would love animals. Well, they're wrong. Don't blame me if I had bad memories at the zoo. It makes me cringe just thinking about it. For example, on my 7th birthday, a camel spit on me. After that, I lost my appetite.

"Do I have to go?" I ask mom, who's just chewing on a bacon wrapped hot dog.

"Stop whining darling. You'll have a great time." mom says.

"Dad?" I ask hoping he's on my side.

"So a camel spit on you once. It's a one time thing." dad says.

"How about the time that goat-"

"Mom!"

"My point is that even though you've had bad things happen to you at your past zoo trips, it doesn't mean that bad things will happen this time."

"The animals hate me." I say.

"Kids like the zoo."

"It's demeaning and cruel to animals. Locked in cages separated from freedom." I say.

I've always wanted to be a writer, and to do that, you had to be able to see things through other people's point of views. Even if they are fictional characters. Ever since, I've tried to see everyone's side of the story, even if it's a fight for the last cookie in the cookie jar. We just came back from the lions, where the lion tried to play with me. Mom and dad thought he tried to eat me, but he was just clawing at the thick glass walls. It was sort of cute, despite the fact I'm not a cat person.

After walking, my mom and dad sit at a bench. I squeeze between them and I just sit there listening to faint ukulele music nearby.

"Well, I'm going to get a hotdog." dad says.

"Oh honey, get me a taco! With some chips and some barbeque sauce on the side! Oh, forget it. I'll go with you. You won't be able to carry all of it by yourself," mom says getting up from the bench. It's a mystery how she stays so slim. "Stevie, you know the drill. If any stranger does something to you, use mama's buttersock." she says handing me her most prized possession. Legend as it that she, my aunt, and my dad used to be famous on the internet. They used to have this website... called... something... something. I'm not sure if it's true, because the website doesn't exist anymore. I ask them why it's not on there, but they say it's because my aunt moved to somewhere in Europe.

I just sit there until I feel a tap on my shoulder. As a reflex, I hit the person with my buttersock. When I turn to look, I see a girl with a group of girls. I instantly regret it.

"Why did you smack me in the face?" the girl asks holding her nose.

"Are you okay Molly?' I hear one of her minions say.

"Do you want me to get you an ice pack?" another minion says.

"What is in that sock?" a minion with blond hair asks.

"Butter." I say.

"Come on girls. We can find the unicorns ourselves. I try to ask a question, and I end up being smacked in the face with gross butter in a moldy sock." she grumbles.

"I change the butter." I say.

"Really?"

"No. It just makes it much more fun." I say and smirk. She just flips her hair and goes off in another direction with her minions.

"No girl slaps a perf." she grumbles while she heads out. I roll my eyes.

_Great. A nice day at the zoo. Yay._

As I watch the girls head off, the faint sound of the ukulele haunts me. I can't help but follow the sound. I look back to the hotdog cart, where my mom and dad are still loading up on snacks.

_I'll only be gone for a second._

I check again to see my parents still busy with the snacks, and I leave the bench with a tight grip on my mom's buttersock. I focus my ears on the music, and I end up in the monkey area. It's weird. I've never been here before. I'm always somewhere near the camels and pigs. I look for the music and then I lay my eyes on a boy my age with a ukulele. I keep a tight grip on my buttersock in case a monkey decides to try something. Ever since the day the camel spit on me, I've been very cautious around animals.

I look at the monkeys and walk around for a bit. Until I trip when I see Molly and her minions. I guess they were a group called the perfs referring to Molly's sentence earlier.

"Are you okay?" the boy with the ukulele asks me offering me a hand.

"I'm fine." I say taking his hand gripping the buttersock tighter.

"Why are you here?" he asks me.

"I heard music." I say. He nods, and looks down at my sock.

"What's that?" he asks me.

"Oh, my mom's buttersock." I say.

"That reminds me of something." she says.

"About what?" I ask.

"I remember my mom used to watch this webshow about a girl with a buttersock. It must've been awesome," he says and we laugh. "Zander." he says sticking his hand out towards me.

"Stevie." I say and I guess we just shake hands and looks at the monkeys. I could tell he knew shaking hands wasn't exactly modern, but he didn't care.

"Why do you have a ukulele?" I ask him.

"I play for the fangirls," he says and winks at another girl our age. She's wearing pink from head to toe. Once she notices Zander, she makes a sour face and avoids eye contact. "She'll come around." he says and starts strumming on the tiny instrument again. I chuckle at his unending bubbliness. I wish I could be like that, but I don't want people to compare me to a... perf.

"I play the ukulele." I say.

"Oh really?"

"Yup. Plus other things."

"Like what?"

"Hmm... The guitar, bass guitar, accordion, flute, clarinet, violin, drums, piano, keytar, and a bunch of other instruments I can't remember. Plus I can sing a little." I say and I think I impressed him.

"Then let's see you play then."

"Are you questioning my powers?"

"Maybe." he says and hands me his ukulele. I tune it, and I start playing. I even sing a little. Ater a few notes, I see a boy with a tambourine come along and he decides to play to the beat. After that, I see another boy with a phone come along and he goes to his piano app. Zander just stands there... until he sings. As odd as this sounds, the various sounds blend in perfectly, along with Zander's surprisingly smooth voice.

After a while, I see that we drew in a crowd. Some people actually wanted to see a bunch of kids toy around with instruments? They could be at a concert right now, but they are in a zoo. Watching little kids play instruments. Little kids.

My brothers always told me that I needed to wait until I was older if I wanted to become a singer, or actually set some think I have this obsession over fame, but the truth is... I just want to be heard. Spread the word around that anyone could follow their dream. No matter what size or age.

I notice that people are looking for something on the floor when we end our song.

"Don't even bother looking for a hat or guitarcase. We don't care about money." Zander says and the crowd slowly scatters. Zander and I turn to face the two boys that joined us.

"Who are you two?" I ask.

"I'm Kevin, but you can call me Sir Bacon Bottom." the guy with the tambourine says. Yeah... I'll stick with Kev.

"I'm Nelson." the boy with the phone says. I notice that they are wearing Furious Pigeons T-shirts. I guess they love that game. I look at the monkeys again. I think they are happy. They are smiling. Do monkeys smile, or is it something they just do? Like... breathing.

"You guys love Furious Pigeons?" I ask them.

"Are you kidding me? I practically live for it." Nelson says and I chuckle as I give Zander his ukulele back. Zander looks at one of the monkeys, and I follow his gaze.

"Is that monkey special to you?" I ask.

"Yeah. I've visited Raina ever since I came here two years ago." he says as the monkey blurts her lips. That makes us all laugh.

"Do you guys know how to beat level 42?" I ask.

"Are you kidding me? I can't get through? It's torturing me." Kevin says and Nelson punches him on the arm. Soon enough, they end up playing punchies.

"Didn't we sound great?' Nelson asks.

"Yeah. Hey... Why did you guys play? I strum a few notes on the ukulele, and all of a sudden, you guys come along forming a song? You do know this guy was playing the ukulele for about twenty minutes." I say pointing to Zander who is still focused on Raina.

"I dunno. I guess we weren't there when he was playing the ukulele. At least he's a great singer. I've never even heard it." Kevin and Nelson say.

"That's because I made up the song on the spot."

"Yeah, he is a good singer." I say, and Zander blushes.

"Well, it was nice meeting you..."

"Stevie. And this is Zander." I say pulling Zander towards me and he just awkwardly waves at the boys.

"Yeah, well, let's hope we meet again. It was nice meeting you guys." Kevin and Nelson say, and they go. I focus my attention on Zander again, and I can't seem to see what's so great about that monkey.

"What's so special about Raina?" I ask him.

"What? You don't have a special animal you always want to see whenever you come to the zoo?" he asks me.

"I remember being spit on by a camel. Yeah... that's pretty much it." I say awkwardly.

"Do you like the zoo?" he asks me.

"The animals hate me. You can figure out the rest of the puzzle." I say and focus my gaze on Raina behind the bars. She looks peaceful. Actually, she's sleeping. It's kind of cute.

"Ever wondered if you had a friend besides a monkey?" he asks me. I'm guessing he wasn't so popular.

"Maybe..." I say and sigh. This trip to the zoo wasn't so bad. To get rid of the awkwardness in the air, I decide to make some small talk with Zander.

"Did you see those girls in the crowd?" I ask. He raises his eyebrows.

"What about them?" he asks.

"They were looking for unicorns." I say and Zander cracks up.

"Unicorns? Well, lucky for them, I put cones on the horses' heads before heading to the monkey area." he jokes and we laugh. Raina wakes up and she heads off to Zander's direction. I kind of freak out, but I realize she's not violent. She's actually very sweet.

"Raina is my monkey. Well, in my heart, she's my monkey." he says trying to touch Raina, but the iron bars restrict him from doing so.

"She seems nice."

"I never really got attached to the other animals. Sure, the pigs and butterflies were cool, but Raina got my attention."

"You and me both dude," I say and we smile. "Well, I gotta go. My parents are probably waiting for me." I say.

"It was nice hanging out with you Steves."

"You too Z." I say and leave the monkeys and the ukulele player.

* * *

I go back to the bench just in time to see that my parents were still socking up on snacks. Mom and dad finally comes over to me with their arms piled high with various cheeses and chips. Hotdogs and burgers. Strips of jerky and more bacon wrapped hotdogs. I still don't get why my mom is slim.

"Hey Stevie, did you get bored?" mom asks.

_Impossible._

"Yeah..." I say, even though I'm lying. I can't believe I left my spot with my mom's buttersock- wait a minute. I don't have the buttersock. I'm so dead.

"Where's my buttersock darling?" mom asks me.

_Think of something. Think of something..._

"While you guys were piling up on snacks, someone took your buttersock. I tried to get it back, but he was so fast." I say. I feel so bad for lying, but what can I say? Who knows what my mom would do if she figured out that I lost her most prized possession?

"Oh well. I have a spare at home."

"A spare? But that sock was like another daughter to you."

"Please Stevie. As long as that skunkbag didn't hurt you, then I'm happy." mom says and dad smiles. I'm happy. And relieved.

"Let's just eat. I don't want to be all cheesy. I love cheese, but that's not the point." mom says and we dig in.

(Zander)

That Stevie chick left me with alot of questions. I probably sang bad, and I ended up embarrassing myself. I'm the worst singer ever. I look at Raina again when I notice something near my ukulele.

It's the buttersock.

I remember Stevie would've hit possible threats with this buttersock. Maybe someday I'll meet her again. To return the possession.

Raina blurts her lips and I just swing the buttersock around.

"Alexander Robbins! We're leaving for the parrots." mom says from another part of the monkey area.

"Coming mom!" I say. Before I head off to the parrots, I say goodbye to Raina and grab my ukulele and the buttersock.

**Sorry. I'm not good at endings. Anyways, have you ever been to the zoo? What's your favorite animal? You can leave a response in the reviews darling. I might make this one-shot into a two-shot. Hmm... Must contemplate...**


End file.
